Craig Berube raves about getting to coach John Tavares after OT winner vs. Sabres

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has been behind an NHL bench for three different teams now, and when you’re a veteran coach, you tend to appreciate the players who show up and work as if it’s a 9-5 job every day. John Tavares is one of those players.

That’s not to say that other players don’t work as hard as Tavares does, but when you take into the consideration the amount of preparation he does on a day-to-day basis and the amount of effort he puts into taking care of his body, it’s easy to understand why he scored 38 goals as a 34-year-old last season. Following a two-point performance including the overtime winner against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, head coach Craig Berube spoke about the privilege of getting to coach somebody like Tavares.

“You don’t really need to coach him,” Berube said of his alternate captain following Saturday night’s 4-3 win over Buffalo. “He’s so professional and dedicated, he loves the Leafs and loves the team, he just comes to work every night. He doesn’t ever take a night off, or a day off. He’s always just doing his thing, working, highly competitive out there, and it’s great to get to coach a guy like that.”

The Leafs out-hit the Sabres 25-20 last night, and while the hit counter isn’t the sole indicator of which team played better physically, or at least more effectively, Berube said that the Maple Leafs are at their best when they’re playing hard and intimidating their opponents.

“I thought our guys played hard, I like the jam they played with tonight,” Berube told reporters. “Physical, couple of nice hits, just a little bit pissed off.”

The Maple Leafs winning one of two games against the Buffalo Sabres in October probably doesn’t feel like a huge accomplishment, but considering the fluid state of the Atlantic Division, picking up as many point as possible against divisional opponents will be crucial to getting preferred seeding when the playoffs come around. Of course, making the playoffs is never a guarantee, but the divisional games always carry a little more weight.

“It’s a tough division,” Berube said. “We saw Montreal and the Senators take a step last season, Buffalo’s taken a step for me, Detroit’s taken a step for me, Florida is Florida and Tampa is Tampa. It’s a battle, for sure.”

The Maple Leafs will look to keep their momentum going on Tuesday night when they host the Calgary Flames.

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